Not many, judging by the crowds. And to be honest, other than our reporter covering the event, not many at the paper have either.

It is hard to sit through these long sessions, filled with numbers, projections and suppositions.

But it has to be done and it is one of the many reasons that those who are willing to serve us deserve some credit.

You can agree or disagree with their decisions, but what these men and women sign on to do when they stand for election to the county council at times borders on the incredible. And we often wonder why anyone would want to do this.

There are many long nights, piles and piles of paperwork, and generally very little praise for any of this. Yet every election residents come forward and stand for these offices.

It is at times simply amazing.

What these people do is critical to a democracy. Without folks willing to serve right here, at home, our system of government would not work.

Higher up the ladder, in the Legislature or Congress, there may be perks and benefits, but we fail to see what they are at the county-council level. All we see is hard work with little reward.

These people deserve so much of our praise and respect.

We can disagree with some of their decisions but not their dedication and work ethic.

We can disagree with some of their actions but not with their willingness to step forward and try to be stewards of our money, our county.

Without these people being willing to sit up there and plow through this stuff, our system would fail.

They deserve a lot of our respect.

So as they debate how to spend hundreds of millions of our tax dollars, stop and give them a pat on the back. And tell them what a good job they are doing.

And if only they would agree with us more, how great things would be!

Now, if only the council would cut the size and ever-growing number of county employees, that would be time well spent.

How much?

We shared the shock of some on the council when during budget discussions it was revealed that the new municipal building would cost $575 a square foot.

We hope that this is some kind of misunderstanding and that we don’t end up with a facility that cost as much as the Taj Mahal.